Set top boxes (STBs) are known for use in video networks such as cable television networks, fiber-optic networks, and the like, for enabling the delivery of specialized programming and services to customers. STBs support the provision of services to video services customers such as pay-per-view (PPV) programming and the like, in addition to providing basic functionality such as receiving a video signal and providing the video signal to the customer's television set, allowing the customer to select video channels for display on the television set, etc. STBs are generally owned by the provider of video services rather than by their customers, i.e., end users of video services. Accordingly, when a customer having an STB terminates or changes a video service subscription, the video service provider generally reclaims the customer's STB, and, often after performing testing and any necessary repair or reconditioning to the STB, redeploys the STB to another customer.
There are many kinds of tests that can be performed on an STB, whether it is newly manufactured or is being analyzed after use in the field. Generally, after an STB has been used in the field, it is desirable, among other things, to analyze the quality of images provided by the STB. Present systems and methods for testing and analyzing STBs rely on human beings to visually inspect the image quality output by an STB. Typically, the video output comprises streaming video in a loop. The human tester then determines whether the image is of sufficient quality. Additionally, machine testing may be performed using special equipment connected to internal test points within the STB to measure a signal for quality.
However, human-based testing of STBs has drawbacks. Human testing is highly subjective and wherein quality determinations are made by an individual person not capable of quantifying video quality or repeating the test in a standardized manner. Further, in test environments having numerous human testers, a video quality determination is at best highly variable, and often highly subjective. Moreover, the standard or standards for establishing video quality are difficult to establish and enforce. In some test environments, it would be desirable to adjust the standard or standards for judging video quality of STBs to control the number of STBs deemed “passed” or “failed” by the test environment, but such adjustments are difficult to achieve where different testers are following different, generally unpredictable, standards.
Because of the manual nature of present systems and methods for testing and analyzing STBs, testing and analyzing STBs is at present generally slow and inefficient, requiring a technician to test each STB individually and manually. Further, the manual nature of present systems and methods for testing and analyzing STBs means that test results are subjective, depending on the vision, hearing, and judgment of the technician testing an STB. Therefore, present systems and methods fail to provide an adequate determination as to whether an STB should be deployed or redeployed into the field that is standardized or that is generally reliable. Additionally, with human testing, a selective pass rate cannot be achieved because there is no way to accurately describe to a human tester where the “pass” video quality threshold is. Typically, with human testing, either the tester likes the video signal or objects to the video signal.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods to automate the testing and analysis of STBs. Such systems and methods would advantageously cause the testing and analysis of STBs to be standardized, and therefore to be more reliable than present systems and methods. Such systems and methods would further be more efficient and cost-effective than is presently possible, and would preferably allow multiple STBs to be tested at once. Additionally, controllability of quality thresholds relating to video signals output from an STB would advantageously allow technicians to control the number of STBs accepted or rejected in the test environment.